Sunday, December 4, 2011

How to we cash out stocks that my siblings and I inherited?

My siblings and I inherited stocks (5 of us listed as beneficiaries). How do we cash them out? Do we each need to open an account and cash them out or can we have the money cashed out in a lump and put into the estate?|||Good answer from Spock. If all the siblings want the cash, it can all be sold and distributed. Otherwise, the shares have to be divided first, then sold.

If these shares were held outside of a qualified plan, you also get the benefit of step-up in cost basis, meaning you won't have to pay taxes on the sale (unless they appreciate significantly after taking possession).|||The stocks should go straight into a trust account, sell them from there, and then the trust can pay the taxes, then take payouts to each beneficiary, this will usually require a tax professional is your aren't sure what you are doing. If you are interested in stocks or what to do with the ones you have, you should check out the folks at www.thewallstreethunter.com they have a good track record for picking stocks and also offer good insights into whats happening every day on wall street.

Good luck|||where are they now?

if they are in a brokerage account [as was so when I handled my mother's estate], the Executor or Personal Representative just submits a certified copy of their appointment papers to the broker [likely with death certificate] and retitles the account into the name of the estate, then sells the stocks out of the estate.

for actual certificates, the Exec or PR should probably open a brokerage account in the name of the estate and deposit the shares in the account ... after which they can be sold.